When online marketing meets government regulation and, um, good wine? (Small Business E-Commerce Link Digest – December 3, 2010)

We here on the thinks team are always looking out for your best interests. And as the weather starts to turn nasty (to say nothing of the attitude among folks in the mall), I thought you’d appreciate some great weekend reading to keep you warm, dry, and safe from angry holiday shoppers.

So, light a fire in the hearth, pour yourself a glass of your favorite beverage (might I suggest a nice Zinfandel or one of Gary Vaynerchuk’s recommendations) and curl up with this week’s fine links:

• The intersection of privacy and advertising online continues to make news. We looked at this some 6 months ago when we asked whether behaviorally targeted ads are a good idea, then followed up on the New York Times coverage of regulations for behaviorally targeted ads. Well, now, as many of us have feared, the FTC wants to create a ‘Do Not Track’ list for the web. Ugh. I’m not even sure how this is supposed to work. (After all, wouldn’t you have to track people to some degree to know who not to track?) Stay tuned. I suspect there’s going to be a lot more news on this topic over the next several months.
• While we’re on the topic of regulation, it looks like the EU is investigating Google for anti-trust. Should you worry? Eh. When the US looked into Google some 18 months ago, I suggested some ways to ensure this is no big deal for your business. While the EU has been more willing to wield its big stick in the past, I still think you can plan around any issues by improving your other traffic segments.
• Does that mean you should give up on SEO? Of course not. Especially not when Google recently updated its SEO Starter Guide. If this isn’t getting the information directly from the horse’s mouth, I’m not sure what is.
• OK, so you haven’t given up on SEO, but you still can’t get funding for your efforts? Check out my post on Mike Moran’s Biznology, “Get Your CEO to Say Y-E-S to SEO”. (Yes, that is a shameless plug. Sorry. Sometimes I just can’t help myself).
• Speaking of SEO, loads of folks have thought for some time that social sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, influence your search rankings. Now, according to Rand Fishkin at SEOmoz, Google and Bing confirm it’s true.
• Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I linked to part 1 of Google’s optimizing and analyzing for mobile devices. Well, I’m happy to report that Google has posted part 2 on their Analytics blog. It’s a great series and well worth checking out.

Alright, Big Thinkers. Stay out of trouble this weekend. Know your limits and all that. And try not to spend your whole weekend reading on the computer. I mean, sheesh, don’t you have some holiday shopping to do?

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